


After Sixty-Eight Years

by orphan_account



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/F, In celebration of SCOTUS's decision, Wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-06 12:37:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4222005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In celebration of SCOTUS’s decision yesterday, I wanted to write a little something about a Cartinelli marriage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After Sixty-Eight Years

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sure there are mistakes, but I just wanted to share this in honor of the momentous decision made yesterday.

The entire ride, Angie sat in the passenger seat playing with the small velvet box she’d been keeping in her nightstand for nearly two decades. It was almost funny — a ninety-year-old woman shouldn’t be so nervous to marry partner of sixty-eight years — but Angie was terrified that Peggy was having one of her bad days, and Angie would arrive only to be greeted by a blank face.

Up until earlier that day, Angie had never come out to the public. At first, it was due to her budding career, but even when societal acceptance of same-sex relationships began to shift, Peggy requested that they keep their marriage out of the public eye. It was too dangerous, she insisted, as long as she worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. Angie had agreed, although she was positive everyone working in theater knew. One too many stage managers had caught her and Peggy in a rather compromising position.

But that had been years ago. By the time Peggy retired, Angie was out of the spotlight, minus the occasional show, and Peggy was still worried that, should the wrong people know about them, Angie would be put in danger. So their relationship remained a secret.

Until the United States Supreme Court declared same sex marriage legal throughout the entire country. Angie hadn’t been able to help herself as she loudly proclaimed to large crowd of New Yorkers that she was going to propose to her partner of sixty-eight years, an announcement that was met with huge applause. _“Not until everyone can,”_ Peggy had said so long ago. She’d called Tony to ask for a ride to Peggy’s nursing home, but Pepper was the one to pick her up.

“Tony asked me to bring you back to the house,” Pepper explained, smiling brightly."Your fiancée’s already on her way.”

Angie kept holding onto that as Pepper parked and led her into the building. Every time she visited, she always chuckled at her godson’s taste. “Like father, like son,” she muttered. Both had ridiculously expensive tastes. 

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Tony is more excited than you are for this wedding,” Pepper teased lightly.

Angie smiled weakly. “Hard to believe we’re finally makin’ it official. It’s been so long.”

Pepper placed a supportive hand on her arm and squeezed lightly. She was about to say something, but the elevator doors opened and Angie was greeted to the sight of Natasha Romanoff arguing with Steve Rogers about the distribution of the flowers.

“You’ve got to spread them out more,” Steve insisted.

“They’re fine!” Natasha protested. “Relax a little.”

“Where’s Tony?” Pepper asked loudly, announcing her and Angie’s presence. Steve spun around, arms full of violets, and smiled bashfully at them while Natasha lazily motioned to the room next to them.

“Making sure we’ve got enough champagne,” she said casually.

Pepper rolled her eyes and muttered something about having enough champagne to fill a swimming pool. “Will you excuse me for a moment?”

She quickly exited the room, leaving Angie alone with the two Avengers. Steve was still standing awkwardly with the flowers and Natasha was leaning against the wall, with no obvious intent of helping.

“Sorry for not being ready yet,” he said. “Sharon’s on her way with Peggy.”

Angie couldn’t stop the grin that broke across her face as she walked further into the room. “Thank you,” she said, pulling him into a hug and making him drop the flowers. “For all of this.”

Steve returned the hug. “Of course.”

“Hey, Steve,” Natasha interrupted, a self-satisfied smirk on her lips. “The flowers are a little cluttered. I think you need to spread them out.”

Steve threw her a dirty look, but Angie just laughed. “It’s perfect.”

“I knew lilies were Peggy’s favorites, but I didn’t know yours, so we got violets, too. I hope that’s okay,” Steve explained, motioning at the piles of purple and white flowers. “We read about their symbolism in a book and thought it might be fitting.”

“ _I_ read about their symbolism in a book,” Natasha corrected.

Angie knew she was still grinning like a fool as they walked her through the basic plans for the evening — there was a great deal of apologizing on Steve’s behalf for not inviting more people, since it was so last minute, and Angie had to reassure him several times over that it was fine. She was so busy listening to them explain why her wedding dinner was going to be Chinese food that she didn’t notice Tony step up behind her and kiss her on the cheek.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Yep, just waitin’ for my bride,” Angie joked nervously.

“Sharon called a couple minutes ago to say they’ve left the jewelers. They’ll be here soon.”

“Jewelers?”

Tony grinned, but didn’t answer. “Speaking of which, I need that ring of yours. Got to give Cap here something to do during the ceremony.”

Angie raised an eyebrow in confusion when Natasha laughed, but Steve merely shrugged. “I’m the ring bearer.”

“Well, in that case,” Angie chuckled, handing Tony the box she’d been holding onto so dearly for the past twenty years. She watched as Tony tied it to a small pillow and hand it to Steve, grinning wildly all the while.

“Keeping it traditional, you know?” Tony looked around at the occupants of the room before shrugging casually. “I mean, yeah. Kind of.”

“Who’s officiating the ceremony?” Angie asked, realizing there was no judge or priest in the room.

“I am,” Tony said proudly. “By the power invested in me by the United States of America, I will proudly be marrying my godmothers in holy matrimony.”

It briefly crossed Angie’s mind of how sacrilegious her mother would have found the whole thing. Every Martinelli was expected to marry in a church, but her mother was long since gone, and if Angie was honest with herself, a wedding ceremony officiated by her godson in his apartment was far better. Even Mrs. Martinelli would have been impressed by Captain America being the ring bearer.

“They’re here!” Pepper exclaimed suddenly, pulling Angie out of her thoughts. “Positions, quickly.”

Natasha maneuvered Angie to the middle of the room, along with Steve and Tony. Angie was suddenly aware of the fact that she was extremely underdressed at her own wedding — Steve and Tony were both in suits, while Pepper and Natasha were wearing formal dresses. Angie was only wearing a short sleeved blouse and pair of capris, having been out in the hot sun not so long ago. Before she could make a fuss, the elevator doors opened and Sharon led Peggy into the room.

It had only been a day since Angie last saw her, but she swore her heart skipped a beat as Peggy met her gaze. The smile on her lips was just as dazzling as the one Angie had first seen sixty-eight years ago. Her stomach flipped as Peggy walked next to her and reached out for her hand.

“I saw your little announcement on the television,” Peggy smiled, rubbing circles on the back of Angie’s hand with her thumb.

“I guess I never really proposed, huh?” Angie laughed, realizing how quickly Tony had thrown everything together.

Peggy brought Angie’s knuckles to her lips and kissed them tenderly. “My answer is yes.”

“Great!” Tony exclaimed loudly from behind them, causing Angie to jump. “Then let’s get this going.”

Sharon and Steve stood on Peggy’s side, while Natasha and Pepper stood next to Angie, with Tony standing proudly in the middle. “Ladies and gentleman,” he began. “We are gathered in my living room to witness the marriage of Angela Martinelli and Margaret Carter. I am immensely proud to call these two women my godmothers, and I can’t think of anyone else who deserves to get married as much as these two.”

He paused suddenly and looked back and forth between Steve, Peggy, and Angie. “Am I supposed to ask the whole if you object say so now or forever whole your peace thing now, or is that after the vows?”

“Tony,” Pepper warned lowly.

“I’m just asking!” Tony said, ignoring the pointed look Peggy was giving him. “If we’re trying to keep things traditional—”

“There aren’t any objections,” Steve cut him off, using his military voice. “So continue.”

Tony shrugged and picked back up where he’d left off. “In that case, I didn’t exactly prepare a speech because the florists took forever, so I can either make something up or you two can come up with your own vows.”

Angie was close to kicking her godson in the shins, but Peggy pulled her attention away by clearing her throat. “Angie, I know that the past few years have been trying, but you have always stayed by my side, and I am so grateful to have you in my life. Thank you, my love, for not giving up on me. Not when I refused to be your neighbor at the Griffith, not when I struggled to admit my feelings for you for the first time all those years, nor when I left for months at a time on a mission I couldn’t share with you. Even these last few years, you have stayed by me. I love you so much, my darling, and after all this time I am so unbelievably honored to finally, officially, ask you to take me as your wife.”

Angie felt her eyes water and had to resist the urge to lean forward and kiss Peggy. She didn’t notice when Peggy’s ring had been tied to the pillow, but Steve held it out so Peggy could untie it. “This was my grandmother’s ring, but I added a little something,” she said, holding the ring so Angie could read the inscription. _To the star of my life_. Angie almost cried as Peggy slid the ring onto her finger and kissed it gently. She struggled to think of something that might compare to Peggy’s vows.

“I love you,” was what she finally came up with. “I love you so, so much, and I’m not over the fact it took so long for this to finally happen, but at least it did, right? I’ve always felt like your wife, or at least I have for a long time, but I’m so happy I finally get to marry you. All official and everything. Thank you for giving me the best years of my life, English.”

She motioned for the ring and untied it. “I picked this out twenty years ago,” she whispered as she slipped it onto Peggy’s ring finger. “I’ve been holdin’ onto it for a long time and was worried I wasn’t every gonna be able to give it to you, but I finally get to.”

“Well,” Tony said, looking around the room. “If no one else has anything to add, I happily pronounce you wife and wife. The brides may kiss.”

Angie could taste salt as she kissed Peggy, but she couldn’t tell if they were from her own tears or Peggy’s. She only registered the clapping when she pulled away from Peggy, still holding hands.

“I love you, English.”

“I love you, too,” Peggy whispered back, kissing her again for good measure.

“Time for the first dance,” Tony declared, clicking a button and flooding the room with music. “Ladies.”

Dancing was not as easy as it once was, but Angie was content to sway back and forth with her wife. She couldn’t remember the last time they’d danced, but she still felt right at home in Peggy’s arms. “You are so wonderful,” she heard Peggy whisper into her hair.

“Right back at you, English,” Angie smiled.

It wasn’t long until Tony pulled Pepper into his arms and they started dancing, as well. Steve and Natasha were still standing off to the side, content with watching, but Angie remembered the promise Steve had made Peggy so many years ago. It wasn’t the Stork Club, but Angie remembered how crestfallen Peggy’s face had been as she described the dance she never got.

“I think I may need to switch dance partners,” Angie declared suddenly, breaking away from Peggy. “Steve, you ought to take my place.”

“I’m sorry?” Steve asked. Peggy looked equally surprised at having her dance cut short, but Angie shooed them both to start dancing.

“I’m told Russia over here can dance, and I need to see it for myself,” Angie said stubbornly. “I’ll steal my girl back in a moment, so don’t get too comfortable, Rogers.”

Natasha stared at her blankly for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to go along with Angie’s scheme, but eventually shrugged and walked closer. “Fine, but I’m leading.”

Steve and Peggy stood side by side for a moment, watching as Angie and Natasha argued over who should lead. “She’s really something, Peggy,” Steve said softly. “I’m happy for you.”

“I’ve been a very fortunate woman,” Peggy agreed, turning to face him. “Now, I believe you owe me a dance.”

 


End file.
